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Sturgis' official meat has rallygoers going hog wild
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FarkSTURGIS - Wearing a T-shirt that read, "Chops, Choppers & Hogs - The Official Meat of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally," hog farmer Dan Miles of Montrose was a popular guy in Sturgis on Saturday afternoon.
His popularity wasn't due to the T-shirt on his back. It was the piping hot barbecue sandwiches in his hand. And he was giving them away for free.
"Free sandwiches!" he called out to the bikers walking through the parking lot of Lynn's Dakotamart. Invariably, the bikers changed direction, sometimes in mid-stride and headed for the booth.
One woman stepped up to the booth where Miles was dispensing free sandwiches. "Can I have one for my husband, too?" she asked.
"Sure," he said. "How many husbands you got?"
Miles was one of several South Dakota pork producers who set up shop in the parking lot of Lynn's Dakotamart on Lazelle Street on Saturday.
It was the second annual promotional event staged in Sturgis by the South Dakota Pork Producers Council.
A few feet behind Miles, Steve Schmeichel, a farmer from Hurley, was part of the cooking crew. Despite the hot sun and the hot barbecue pit, Schmeichel seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Whenever we are promoting our product, it's part of the lifestyle, part of the business," he said. "We like to make our customers happy."
Minnie Bell, programs and communications director for the council, said the group, all South Dakota pork producers, launched the promotional tour with 1,600 pounds of pork, all donated by the John Morrell & Co. plant in Sioux Falls.
Pork in some ways has a natural connection to motorcycling. Harley-Davidson motorcycles have long been called, "Hogs."
Likewise, members of the Harley Owners Group often wear H.O.G. patches. And frankly, there aren't a lot of vegetarian bikers out there.
Although pork is the official meat of the Sturgis motorcycle rally, the council wasn't limiting its promotion to Sturgis.
Bell said they started out cooking for bikers and other Lynn's Dakotamart customers in Hot Springs and Custer on Friday.
They were also scheduled for a repeat appearance in Sturgis on Sunday.
And on Monday, they were headed to Lead and Belle Fourche.
They were dispensing 1,125 sandwiches a day on the tour, she said.
And judging by the traffic at Lynn's in Sturgis, they won't last long.
Volunteers assemble one of the hundreds of complimentary pork tenderloin sandwiches that South Dakota Pork Producers were serving Saturday afternoon in Sturgis. Dick Kettlewell/Journal staff
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